Granite Gear Wisp

"bump"

David:

I liked the looks of the Wisp and ordered one about three years ago — thinking it would make a good overnighter or even weekender. After receiving it and playing with it for about an hour, I packed it up and returned it for a refund.

Good looks aside, I just didn't see much that was positive about this pack. Perhaps my negative impressions were panned out — given how little attention the Wisp had gotten — despite the 3+ years on the market and the popularity of the Granite Gear brand!

As a day pack, the Wisp was actually quite uncomfortable when it was only partially packed — worse than even some cheap, run-of-the-mill school packs! This pack needed a sleeping pad frame and careful packing for it to carry anything but the lightest gear comfortably!

But herein laid the problem. The Wisp lacked depth (or thickness), so once you insert a sleeping pad, there was little room left for anything else! I could easily pack for a weekend with several packs in the 2,000 ci range, but not with the Wisp!?!

The Wisp's two hipbelt pockets were so tiny and tightly contoured to the belt that they were essentially useless for anything much bigger than a lip balm or two. They really reminded me of the side pockets found in other Granite Gear packs — where, again, poor design compromised usability.

Sorry for being so negative, but I would recommend looking elsewhere.

Hi David:

I chose the Golite Dawn pack — although it's been replaced last year with the Zpack Z1. Click over to zpack.com and take a look, if you haven't already. No direct experience, but I know that ULA packs have legions of fans. Maybe their lighter/smaller models will be a good fit for you?

Good luck with your pack search!